Norfolk and Waveney have lost around 50 bank and building society branches in the past four years, figures have revealed.

Data from the consumer group Which? combined with analysis from the EDP shows the region is losing more and more banking facilities every year as more customers take advantage of online and telephone banking.

The data shows 13 NatWest, two Santander, three Lloyds, seven HSBC and six Barclays branches have closed in Norfolk and Waveney since 2015, excluding recently announced closures in locations including Wells and North Walsham.

Combined with the closure of all East Anglian branches of the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society this paints a worrying picture for many customers.

Although there have been around 10 branch closures in Norwich since 1015, there have been many more in regional towns and centres where options for banking are often limited.

Closing branches: How they affect us

Bank and building society branch closures can have a particularly harmful affect on elderly, rural residents, according to Norfolk County Council’s communities committee chairman Margaret Dewsbury.

She said: “The aging population in the villages looks to the larger market towns, and those are the ones that are losing the banks.

The NatWest bank branch in North Walsham has also closed. Pictures: David Bale

“It can be quite difficult for older people to get into Norwich, and they don’t always know where to go when they get there.”

But Barry Hester, mayor of North Walsham, which has lost several branches in recent years, said bank closures could also offer an opportunity for town centre renewal.

He said: “It’s not ideal and you feel for the staff, but most people bank online now anyway, even small businesses which might have to pay in cash have the post office to do that.”

Mr Hester said the town’s HSBC, which closed in 2016, had been replaced with a Specsavers, and he hoped another popular shop would fill the soon-to-be-vancant Barclays building.

The closed NatWest bank in Stalham.
Picture: MARK BULLIMORE

“(Bank closures) will probably affect elderly people more as they also go into the bank for a conversation and to get them out of the house. But hopefully we can attract new business that still get them out of the house.”

Cashpoints: is there one near you?

Data published by Link show 1,400 cashpoints have closed across Great Britain in the first eight months of 2018, and consumer group Which? says ATMs are closing at the rate of 250 a month.

Link’s data shows South Norfolk and Broadland are among constituencies with fewer than five ATMs per 10,000 residents, while all other areas in Norfolk and Waveney have between five and 10 cashpoints per 10,000 residents.